Crimson
A slippery, somewhat enigmatic swordsman who appeared on the outskirts of Peregrine one day. Seemingly tends to keep to himself--not because he's a loner or anything, but because when he does interact it's with an arrogance that makes it nigh-impossible to stand his presence. Getting answers out of him can be a chore if you don't know what to ask, or don't have the guts to ask him straight. Some claim his name to be "Adwel," and while he's denied giving his own name to anyone in the city, he doesn't hesitate to correct others that Adwel is, in fact, not it. Crimson is more than likely a self-given nickname, that said. He has a lot of those. Statistics * Proficiencies: Athletics, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Nature, Medicine, Performance Appearance True to his self-given title, Crimson's shirt is long-sleeved and bright red. Normally it flows down near his ankles on both sides of his legs with a split in the back, but the portion above his left leg is torn away (and rather lazily stitched to prevent further unraveling). The piece also contains yellow accents that wrap up from the bottom of it, around the back, and over his shoulders. To cover it he wears leather armor dyed to slightly match the same color. Crimson's face is somewhat triangular with sharp, rather handsome features complemented by a good height despite relative slimness--all of which, as far as he's been able to tell, only make it easier to get on people's nerves. His eyes are piercing crimson (heh), usually floating lazily amidst normal conversation or day-by-day but striking and animated at any other time. His skin is a slightly grayed brown color, and his hair grows out in short, dark brown spiky curls in a widow's peak. Crimson keeps his sword on him at all times in a sturdy leather scabbard attached to an orange belt. The sword itself is saberlike and balanced for fast and controlled movements and is astonishingly durable despite its light weight. Its blade's metal is dark with subtle patterns lining its non-edged side. Personality Crimson is very good at projecting an outward air of arrogance and pride. When he talks to others it's almost always accompanied by a facade of bravado--one that's entirely false and takes little effort to break, but his overall attitude keeps most from wanting to try. Perhaps contrary to what he says, he takes pride less in his skill and more in how he's able to consistently get reactions from people. He'll hardly ever say anything straight unless you've convinced him you're worthy of him dropping his barriers. Underneath his smug exterior Crimson harbors a handful of lingering regrets and self-assigned faults. His attitude noted above is a way to force himself to act beyond them at best or a bad habit he slips back into at worst. He doesn't mind provoking people because the behavior he adopts for it is one he himself distinguishes from how he acts when he's alone or with those he trusts. How much truth that mindset holds is yet to be observed, however. Traits Relationships Carden: Thinks he's a pretty stylish dude when he's not keeping his face like a plank of wood. Why does he do that, anyway? Crim wants to say it's rude. It kind of is rude. But beyond that it's boring! In his eyes, if Carden's metaphorical laces were any unnecessarily straighter they'd be stuffed with toothpicks. Who wants to be around a guy with toothpicks on his shoes? Yeah, he's grateful to him, but, like, c'mon... Chen: Bright bird kid. Crim actually kind of enjoys his presence and respects his occasional moments of wit. He'd say he reminds him of his younger self except he knows that'd be giving himself too much credit. He's slightly flattered by the interest Chen expressed in his magic and feels a bit guilty that he doesn't know enough to tell him more about it... Jimmy: Did... did he just give his contact information to a murderer...? Well, for an apparent murderer Jimmy seems pretty cool. He can probably say that much... and in his defense, Jimmy was the one who convinced him to pick up a proper Stone of Farspeech so that he had contact info to give him in the first place. Tarolina: Tara hates him, apparently. He recognizes the possibility, but sees it entirely as their own problem (they LIED about their MOM having just DIED JUST TO GET OUT OF A CONVERSATION WITH HIM), and thusly has little drive to make amends. In fact, he's actually somewhat flattered by what he can only assume to be the degree of Tara's distaste. That's probably not healthy for him, now that he thinks about it. Lumi: She pressed him for his past and info, something he didn't really appreciate. Why can't people just leave that alone? Honestly, he's a bit surprised he was able to shake her off without getting into the details, so he shouldn't be complaining. Lyken: Crim thought this guy was pretty okay for an antisocial dude, but then he was threatened by him for "antagonizing" Tara. He won't doubt the sentiment of his qualm. He's even somewhat amused by it... and in realizing such is a bit scared of his own audacity. But he beat him in a fight once already, right? He'll be fine. Y-yeah. Ieliza: Whatever happened to her wasn't his fault! Like, actually! * Knows these Characters: ** Algos ** Anoresha ** Erikson ** Selene Skills and Abilities Innate Abilities * Steam Engine: Crimson knows peculiar magic that essentially boils him from the inside out to fuel his spells, of which boost his strength and agility to unprecedented levels in a visual burst of steam out from the gaps in his clothing. * Weavewatcher: Crimson has within him another form of magic that offers him glimpses into the weave as it mingles with life, letting him perceive and react to threats towards his own or those of others moments before they make impact. Combined with the above, it's very difficult to truly catch him off-guard. The motions are accented by ephemeral strings pulling his sword to block an attack or his self out of harm's way whenever he makes use of it. Acquired/Learned Abilities * Sword Virtuoso: Crimson, despite his young age, is a veritable prodigy with his weapon. If asked (explicitly), he claims to fight for self-defense, if not for spectacle. Spectacles Crimson's fighting style often involves many strange risks due to the arcane influence noted above, since both allow him to avoid and recover from situations otherwise impossible for the normal human being. One might say he fights as if he's putting on a show for his opponent, stalling dramatically and waiting for the perfect moment for a decisive finish. * Decisive Blow: Crimson possesses noteworthy skill with his blade, and he's able to perform maneuvers with it otherwise uncommon for a swordfighter. ** D20 Mechanics: *** Literally stolen Battle Master combat maneuvers *** Superiority Die is a d10 *** DC 17 *** Knows these maneuvers: ****Disarming Attack ****Feinting Attack ****Menacing Attack ****Parry ****Precision Attack ****Trip Attack * Threaded Needle: Crimson attempts to tap into his magical vision to better grasp the future it presents to him. ** He spends a moment focusing on an opponent, or a handful of them, to better predict how they might attempt to harm him, attempt to make him easier to harm, etc. ** D20 mechanics: *** Activates whenever Crim takes the dodge action *** Targets up to 3 creatures he can see *** Adds +2 to his AC and any saves made against them as long as he can see them *** Lasts until the start of his next turn * Protecting Needle: After focusing on an opponent using Threaded Needle, Crim is able to use the better glimpses of foresight to try and protect allies from them with an intervening swing of his weapon. ** D20 mechanics: *** When a target affected by Threaded Needle attempts an attack against a creature within 5 feet from Crim that he can see, he can use his reaction to grant the target +2 AC * Destiny Ward: Crimson’s innate magic offers him occasional vague and potentially useful hints about the future. More importantly, though, it can also warn him against potential dangers to his own vitality, allowing him to dodge as if he knew the attack was coming. ** When combined with his other innate magic, he can will the weave to literally pull him out of the way of harm *** Or cushion his fall, web up or reinforce himself against an oncoming blow, etc *** Accented by a sudden flash of ephemeral strings. ** Closer to a spidey sense than any sort of precognition. ** D20 Mechanics: *** When a creature lands a damaging attack on Crimson, as long as he isn’t blinded, he can use his reaction to redirect the damage into a separate pool of HP **** If this nullifies the damage entirely, the attack is counted as a miss *** Also usable against sources of damage that require a STR or DEX save to avoid *** If activated, it remains active and continues absorbing hits until the start of his next turn *** The pool has 20 HP when full *** The pool is fully restored after a short or long rest * Steam Step: Crimson boosts his physical abilities using dubious magic, allowing him to move faster and more efficiently. ** Movements made with this trail thick jets of smoky steam ** D20 Mechanics: *** Bonus Action *** Choose from one of the following bonuses **** For that turn, Crimson gains +15 feet of movement **** For that turn, Crimson's jump height and length is doubled **** He imposes disadvantage on Opportunity Attacks against himself *** This is only usable if Destiny Ward has HP left, or the first turn after it runs out * Unravel: If he's pushed towards his ropes, Crimson loses control of his abilities and is forced to use them to empower a last-ditch offensive flurry before he's exhausted of them entirely. It can be quite a spectacle. ** Crimson turns the weave of life against his opponent to empower a last-ditch attack. ** His weapon emanates an eerie purple aura, and everything seems to go wrong for his target as he strikes at them. Or maybe it's going right for him? It's so fast it's kind of hard to tell... ** Doesn’t necessarily have to kill--in fact, it looks rather stunning in a disarming strike as well. ** D20 Mechanics: *** Action **** Only usable once, and only the turn after Destiny Ward is depleted *** Attempts 4 separate attacks in quick succession **** The first is a “Precision Attack” **** The second is a “Disarming Attack” on hit **** The third is a “Menacing Attack” on hit **** The fourth is a “Trip Attack” on hit ***** DC 17 ***** The weapon counts as magical for the purposes of overcoming magical resistances and effects *** The superiority die is a d10 and is rerolled for each attack **** The dies do not count against those used for his normal maneuvers *** If all four attacks hit and their respective effects go off, the target becomes stunned until the end of Crimson’s next turn Skills * Fateful Magic Vision: Naturally, Crimson can see things that others don't usually see with his vision, as long as it has the ability to heal or harm life, vitality, or whatever you want to call it. He's able to tell if something otherwise benign has healing or hurting effect when to even a trained eye it may look like nothing worth noticing. Heck, even for Crimson it might not be worth noticing, but he sees it anyway. * Impressive Skill: While the verdict if Crimson is as proficient of a blade as he claims is up to debate (at best), it's worth noting that he's very good at making himself look good alongside his weapon of choice--or just looking good in general. His Objective Coolness™ is usually ruined by himself looking smug while he's doing it, not due to a lack of style or anything. Pfft. No. Who do you think he is? * Good at Sword: He cannot stress this enough. Just because he blabs about his own blade proficiency as he does doesn't mean his words don't hold some modicum of truth. He has parried lightning before! Actually! Twice!! * Good at Other Things With Sword: When you wander around for several years with nothing much besides a sword, you tend to accumulate an odd wealth of skills from the surprisingly frequent moments where you're doing things that don't really need a sword. Crimson has experienced this, and at times has used a sword for them anyway. Have you ever carried logs by balancing them on the tip of a blade? He has! ... hey, don't give him that look. Be impressed. * Good at Other Things Without Sword: I mean he can grill a mean steak if you give him the right stuff. Don't say he could do this with his sword, he'll get ideas. Weaknesses * Indecipherable Magic Vision: Crimson can see things that others don't usually see, sure, but what he usually omits from the fact is that all he can really perceive is vague flashes of color or lines of light when his vision comes in handy. It's on him to be able to decipher what they mean, and more often than not his guesswork isn't enough to make his ability as useful as it sounds on paper. * Distracting Magic Vision: Crimson can see things that others don't usually see, for the umpteenth time, but it needs to be said that the flashes of color gleaned by it are ceaseless and always present, no matter where they originate from or why. As long as his eyes are open, his vision is speckled with ephemeral light shows, ones he occasionally struggles to ignore. Their nuisance has only become more prominent as he's developed the use of his ability. * Spectacle First: Showing off, or at least acting like he is, is a bad habit Crimson could stand to break. It makes him largely insufferable in most conversations, and sometimes even wastes precious moments when he otherwise needs decisive action. Overcoming this tendency is a major deciding factor that Crimson needs to pull off if he's to be at his best... unless he's performing, in which case this is hardly even a drawback. * He's His Own Spell Component: Crimson's magic, specifically when it taps into his steam-shooting or string-pulling abilities, essentially burns him up from the inside out. While he can recover from this given a moment of reprise, in the moment it can make him exhausted and vulnerable. Equipment Weapons * Saber-Lookin' Sword: A sword that... is a sword. Crimson kinda wishes he had more to say about it himself, honestly. It has little probably-magic patterns along its blade if anything? He'll think up lines on the fly, "indestructible" weapons are kinda cool. ** Comes with a scabbard, naturally ** D20 mechanics: *** 1d8 slashing damage *** Finesse *** Counts as magical for the purposes of resisting effects **** Also resists damaging effects, period Other Equipment * Red Outfit: ** Red's kind of his thing ** A bit torn in places, but eh * Red(ish) Armor: ** Leather ** +1 AC ** He should probably get this re-dyed or replaced at some point... * Shoes: ** Not red, but they serve him well * Bag: ** You know, for stuff Inventory * Spare Socks: Like the only thing he had packed when he was dropped here. * Lean-To Tarp: Lightweight and good for not getting rained on. * Water Capsules: One-use items given to him by a friend, similar to really condensed and lightweight artificed water bottles. * Spare Clothes: Bought in-town with spare cash. * Stone of Farspeech: "Phones" are admittedly new to him, but this thing is convenient. * Room Key: For a single-bed single-bath apartment in Old Peregrine, rent paid almost entirely by the Deck while he stays in town. Cozier than what he's used to. Thanks, Carden! History Crimson isn't from the same world--or even the same continuity as Peregrine and thusly much of his past needn't be mentioned, save for the events that shaped him to be who he is today. He was born to a proud, but middle-class family not long before disaster struck. A disaster that he was blamed for before he even knew how to walk--not without reason, though. The degree to which he was treated fairly in light of it was rather poor, however. From such his childhood wasn't the happiest, but instead of harboring any negativity he decided to run away at a young age and pursue other avenues of life. Not harboring negativity is something he tries to do a lot. Cut forward a few years, and misfortune strikes again, pulling from what he thought was a new beginning for himself. He doesn't like to talk about it but would admit that "new beginning" is where he formed the majority of the image he projects towards others. Cut forward again, and he's gotten wrapped up in someone else's business. Right as he thinks they've completed it and he can get back to himself, though, he's taken to Peregrine due to a mishap with Harnestech. This is probably just another start for him, though. No use dwelling on the past.